Introduction

There’s something monstrous in selecting a dozen short stories, fashioning a list that seems merely to bring the absentees into relief. Emotionally, I found it like lining up my children (were I to have any), announcing who was staying and who should beat a path to the orphanage. In the end I opted for stories that have flayed me, pieces with an ineffable voltage and bravura at their core. A world without these stories would be irredeemably bereft. Sincere apologies to the orphans.